


Don't You Dare

by JoMouse



Series: TFLN [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Don't copy to another site, First Meetings, House Party, M/M, Meet-Cute, Party, Recreational Drug Use, Texts From Last Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 07:54:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19205122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Louis drags a heart-broken Liam to a house party.Based on TFLN (774): i just walked into a room at this party and someone yelled ‘dibs!’





	Don't You Dare

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and salutations!
> 
> Writer's block has been kicking my butt, but I've managed to finish a couple of short, mostly fluffy things. Here's the first.
> 
> Big thanks to my betas/cheerleaders: [Marie](http://quietzap.tumblr.com), Cristina and Jenn who are awesome. Any errors that remain are all mine.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.
> 
> ETA: [Coffeewordangel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeewordangel) is such a sweetheart and made a beautiful graphic for this fic. Thank you, sweetie! You are the greatest!  
>   
> ([image link](https://www.ultraimg.com/image/ZS5c))

The ground beneath his feet vibrated with the bass of the overly loud music emanating from the house in front of Liam. His head was already pounding as he literally dug his heels into the soft ground in an effort to fight his best mate (and worst nightmare) Louis’ efforts to physically drag him into the party. When Louis had appeared at his flat earlier in the evening, he’d refused to accompany him to stalk the pretty boy from his Intro to Psychology class and yet somehow, he found himself far from his sofa and numerous pints of Chunky Monkey.

“No, Lou,” he whined, he wasn’t ashamed to admit he was whining. “I really am not in the mood for a party.” 

He really wasn’t. He’d just been dumped for the third time that semester and he was completely not in the mood to be around people. He’d thought he’d convinced Louis to leave him alone, but instead, the little wanker had dragged him, literally kicking and screaming, into the bathroom and thrown him into the shower, joggers and all.

Eventually, after about an hour of fighting, he was dressed in skinny jeans, a black shirt and checkered flannel. His brown Timberlands completed the ensemble and were enough for him to grumble about looking like a lumberjack and informing Louis he was damn lucky he didn’t have an axe. He’d bitched and fought the entire car ride out into the woods to a secluded cabin that resembled a small ski resort, lit up enough to almost obliterate any chance at seeing the stars.

“You can’t stand out here all night,” Louis tried to reason, his eyes darting around in search of the guy from his class. Liam knew the moment he’d spotted his prey, the smaller man’s back straightening and fingers immediately going to his fringe to arrange it in a nervous gesture. Louis bounced on his toes as he looked at Liam, pleading, “Do it for me?”

Liam sighed, ignoring the grin on Louis’ face, knowing that he’d broken Liam down. Turning on his heel, Louis practically sprinted toward the door as Liam followed at a more sedate pace. He pulled his phone out of his pocket when it buzzed, seeing a message from his flatmate, Niall, who was home sick with the flu.

_ How goes it _

Liam groaned, not wanting to worry Niall anymore than his self-imposed seclusion already had, but he really just wanted to go home. He stepped through the open doorway of the cabin, inhaling deeply at the wall of people in front of him. He could barely hear anything, the music he’d heard outside being practically drowned out by the loud buzz of chatter and laughter. He turned to the base of the stairs where he’d last seen Louis before he’d glanced down at his phone and, instead of his friend, locked eyes with a man with shaved blonde hair and a wicked twist to his lips. 

Swallowing, Liam forced himself to look away to try and find Louis, but his eyes were drawn back to the man...or at least, where the man had been standing. Were the damn stairs a portal to a magical land? Every time he looked away, people disappeared. Liam was about to give up and just call for a ride and head back to the flat, it wasn’t like Louis would even notice he’d gone when he smelt something familiar and longing began in his stomach.

He sniffed the air, feeling a bit like a bloodhound as he followed his nose to a room to the left of the stairs that was behind a set of sliding doors which weren’t quite closed all the way, allowing the smoke to escape into the foyer. Edging closer, he looked down at his phone buzzing again.

_ At least let me know you’re still alive _

He was in the middle of texting Niall back to say he was actually dead and his spirit was going to haunt his arse through text for all of eternity when he stepped fully into the room. He heard a girl shout at him to shut the door just as another, definitely male voice called out something else entirely.

He looked up in shock, gaze flying around the room, but the only person looking at him was a girl who probably was the one who told him to shut the door. That thought was confirmed when she repeated herself at a louder volume. Turning to shut the door, he quickly texted Niall,  _ “i just walked into a room at this party and someone yelled ‘dibs!’” _

“Payno!” Louis shouted and Liam raised his eyes, smiled breaking across his face as he spotted his friend waving wildly from the floor near the windows, crammed between who must have been the guy he was there to stalk and the drop dead gorgeous guy from the stairs. “Join us!”

Liam’s smile faded when gorgeous guy elbowed Louis and hissed something to him, starting to scramble to his feet as Liam drew closer. By the time he’d reached his friend, the gorgeous guy had disappeared again and Liam dropped down into his vacated space, leaning against Louis with a sigh. “Is it time to go, yet?”

“We just got here,” Louis countered, before wrapping an arm around the guy next to him and tugging him over until he fell across Louis’ lap, his head landing in Liam’s. “This is Harold, from my Intro to Psych class.”

“Hi, Harold,” Liam deadpanned as he held a hand out twisted at an awkward angle so the guy could shake it.

“It’s Harry, actually,” he responded, large mouth quirking into a smile, cheeks dimpling and bringing a smile to Liam’s face. “And the guy who beat a path outta here was my flatmate Zayn.”

“Sorry to have chased him off,” Liam told him, taking the joint that Louis offered and taking a hit before passing it to Harry. He breathed out around his next words. “I seem to have that effect on people.”

Louis giggled and shared a look with Harry. “At least he knows he’s good looking, that’s better than he was a few hours ago.”

“Wait, what?” Liam asked, suddenly wondering exactly how long until he could take another hit. 

“You’re right. He’s dumb in an endearing way,” Harry told Louis.

“Heeeey,” Liam said. “First, stop talking about me like I’m not here and second, tell me what you’re talking about me.”

Louis nudged him, holding out the joint and waiting until he’d taken a hit before speaking. “Did you hear what was said when you walked in?”

Liam choked around the smoke in his throat as he passed the joint to Harry. “Shut the damn door?”

“The other thing,” Louis said, watching Harry inhale and then leaning forward to shotgun with him.

Liam waited impatiently while the sharing of smoke quickly devolved into a makeout session in his lap. When it went on for too long, he plucked the nearly dropped joint out off Harry’s fingers and shoved the making-out couple off his lap and muttered a quick apology when they both turned to glare at him.

He scrambled to his feet, tripping when Louis grabbed at his shoes. He planned to exit the room through the same door he’d entered, but a cool breeze stopped his course and he turned towards it, discovering another open door; this one leading outside into the dark. 

He managed to get to the door without too much hassle, the biggest obstacle being a girl that seemed to think she knew him, throwing her arms around him and planting a wet kiss on him before going on and on in a language that Liam didn’t understand. He’d escaped only when another girl speaking a completely different language, grabbed her by the arm and the two of them started arguing in raised voices. 

Liam breathed deeply once he was outside, the door dampening the worst of the noise so that he was able to hear himself think again. He went to take a hit when he realized the joint had sparked out while he’d been making his way outside. “Shit,” he muttered, patting his pockets in hopes of a lighter magically appearing.

He blinked when a flame jumped to his right, he found the gorgeous guy, Zayn he thought Harry had said his name was, holding out a lighter with a smile. “Here,” he said, something about the voice sounded familiar. He reached for the lighter, fingers tingling when they brushed against his.

“Thanks,” Liam said around the joint as he lit it, taking a hit before offering it to Zayn. “‘M Liam.” He watched as Zayn held the joint to his lips.

“Zayn,” he offered, voice tight around the smoke.

“Harry’s friend.” They settled down on a step off the patio, shoulders bumping as they passed the joint back and forth until it was too small to hold without damage to their fingers.

Surprisingly, the conversation between them flowed easily as they talked about Louis and Harry, taking bets on how long before Zayn would be looking for a new flatmate. By the time it grew too cold to be sitting outside, the comforting warmth of their buzzes wearing off, Liam felt like they’d known each other for years instead of minutes or hours. He looked down at his watch and wondered if it was still too early to go home.

They went inside, the party had thinned out but it still took them a while to find Harry and Louis who were sitting on the floor in the corner of the kitchen, a package of cookies between them. Liam shared an eye roll with Zayn as they fed each other cookies and made googly eyes at each other. “Disgusting,” Liam said, making Zayn snort out a laugh earning the attention of the two on the floor.

“Don’t laugh, Zaynie,” Harry teased, reaching behind himself and bringing out a package of gummy bears and shaking it in the air like he was tempting a dog with a treat.

“Dibs!” Zayn called, pushing past Liam who had frozen at that one word, finally knowing why Zayn’s voice had sounded familiar.

Zayn grabbed the candies out of Harry’s hand and turned his grin on Liam, eyes widening as Liam just stared at him, trying to put together enough words to not completely make a fool of himself. “You…” he gets out and then wants to smack himself in the head because he has nothing to follow that up.

“Me?” Zayn says, his smile twisted in discomfort and possibly a desperate attempt to appear innocent.

“You,” Liam said again, his own lips beginning to twitch into a smile.

“Me,” Zayn responded with a sigh, head dropping but Liam still caught him biting his lower lip to hold back a grin.

Liam took a step forward, ready to open his mouth when some blonde stumbled over and threw her arms around Zayn. “Hey, hottie,” she all but screamed in his face. “Dance with me!”

“Um…Er...like,” Zayn said, looking at Liam, eyes wide and pleading.

Liam smirked and strode over to them, laying a firm hand on the girl’s shoulder before pulling her off of Zayn. “Excuse me, miss, but I have dibs,” Liam told her, looking at Zayn who flinched at the choice of words.

The girl giggled as she stumbled away, seemingly having forgotten that she’d been all over Zayn just a moment before as she threw herself across the lap of another blonde sitting on the sofa. Liam shook his head and turned back to Zayn to see if he was alright now that the leech had been removed, surprised to see the calculating look on Zayn’s face.

“What?”

“I believe that  _ I _ was the one to call dibs,” Zayn replied, lips twitching as he stepped into Liam’s space, eyes bouncing from Liam’s lips back to his eyes.

Liam’s stomach twisted as he leaned in, a challenge in his voice as he spoke. “And what exactly did you call dibs on?”

Zayn quirked an eyebrow and leaned in close enough that his breath brushed across Liam’s lips as he whispered, “You,” and pressed their mouths together, teeth clacking a bit as they both fought smiles.

Louis and Harry watched their friends. “I’m gonna tell him that Zayn was talking about the weed,” Louis said.

Harry slapped a hand over his mouth as he started to interrupt the moment their friends were having. “Don’t you dare!”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on tumblr! I'm josjournal there!


End file.
